Walcott's upset victory, only the second by a non-European in Olympic javelin competition, should act as encouragement to Yego, who is not short of self belief.

"I want to be a legend and leave a legacy," he said.

"My focus now is on the 2013 World Championships in Moscow. I am trying to be in the top three. I have to move into the medal bracket, not just in the finals."

Yego had to battle "a lot of challenges" to gain acceptance in his own country as a world-class athlete.

The 23-year-old hails from a village in the Rift Valley, the traditional breeding ground for the seemingly endless stream of Kenyan distance runners who have enjoyed such success in distances from 800 meters to the marathon.

Yego first made his mark with third place at the 2010 African championships in Kenya's capital of Nairobi, but disappointment followed at the Commonwealth Games in New Delhi later that year as he was well below his best in finishing seventh.

His big breakthrough came in 2011 at the All-Africa Games, but he nearly did not make it to the championships in Mozambique, which were to prove pivotal to his career and eventual qualification for the 2012 Olympics.

Yego was initially told he would be going with the Kenyan team to the event, but three days later came the shattering news that he would not be making the trip.

"I rang one of the officials in our federation and I asked what was happening," he recalls.

"He told me we don't have enough cash to accommodate all of you, so I told him you can remove one of the runners so you can give me a chance!"

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Now he could not be ignored by the Kenyan selectors and his dream was about to become reality, admittedly as the only field event athlete in a 44-strong team.

"My Olympic experience is something I will never forget. I'm an Olympian now, not everyone can be Olympian," he said.

Like many top Kenyan athletes, Yego has a job with the national police force, but is allowed ample time to train between four to five hours per day, working on specialist exercises in the gym, jumps over hurdles and a throwing routine.

"Javelin requires a combination of speed, skill and power, and if you don't combine all of them, you cannot get it right," he said.

"I was born with the talent, but the skills I have had to work on."

Thorkildsen remains his reference point.

"Andreas is a unique guy, he's very skilful," Yego said. "He does some gymnastics (in training) you cannot do.

"When I watch his squats he's doing almost 200 kg and I was doing 90, so you can see it's a very big range, but now I'm doing 150.

"When I read his biography, he started training when he was just 11, so you can see he's far ahead of everybody."

Still battling the lack of specialist facilities, Yego goes it alone, spending hours every day training at the Kasarani stadium in Nairobi.

"What I love about the javelin, when you throw and you hit it right, when it's flying in the sky, you feel so nice."